Corset-fastening.



UNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN H. \VOLCOTT, OF CONCORD, MICHIGAN.

CORSET-FASTENING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 699,359, dated May 6, 1902. Application filed September 13, 1901- Serial No. 75,294. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN H. WoLooTr, a citizen of the United States, residingat Ooncord, in the county of Jackson and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and use ful Improvements in Oorset-Fastenings, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in corset busks and fastenings, the strips of elastic metal secured to the front edges of corsets and generally provided with means for securing said edges together.

The object of the invention is to provide elastic metallic busks for this purpose of such character that they can be made with great economy, utilizing substantially all of the strips of material initially provided for their manufacture, and which shall when in place produce a smooth practically unbroken inner surface and outer surface for the finished corset at the edges.

Figure 1 is a perspective of the corset having busks of my improved form. Fig. 2 is a cross-section through the edge portion of the corset, showing the two busks of the pair hooked together. Fig. 3 is a face view of a portion of the right-hand elastic busk detached. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the same on line IV, Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a face view of the left-hand busk before the tongues have been turned to form the hooks. Fig. 6 is a similar View after the hooks have been formed. Figs. 7 and 8 are sectional views of the busks united, taken through the hooks and between the hooks, respectively.

In the drawings, A indicates the right-hand busk as a whole, and B the left-hand, reference being made to right hand and left hand merely as a matter of convenience.

The busk A is formed of a fiat piece of elastic steel of uniform width from end to end, and with the exception of the small slots or apertures for the hooks of the busk B can be manufactured without any loss of material. The said slots or apertures are indicated by a, being relatively long and narrow, their longer axes being parallel to the length of the busk. They may be of any suitable length, though I have found that a half-inch,

approximately, is the best for ordinary purposes.

The busk B is manufactured from a steel strip and without loss of any of the material whatsoever. It is so shaped that the one half of it (considering it divided longitudinally)- that is, the portion at b--lies in one plane, while the half or portion at b is in another, they being offset somewhat relatively to each other to form a longitudinal shoulder, as shown at b At b 19 short slots are cut transversely of the steel strip, and the tongues 1) between these cuts or slots are turned upward and backward to form the hooks b The distance of the extreme hook I) from the neighboring ends of the busk B and the distances from each book to the next correspond, respectively, tothe distances of the apertures a in the busk A from the ends and from each other.

Busks having incident to them features of the kind described can. be manufactured at the very minimum of cost and with the utmost economy of material.

The busks B can be made successively from along strip or coil of elastic steel. The tongues 12 are turned up to form the hooks b after cutting the slits either by suitable devices in the same machine which efiects the shaping and cutting or in a separate mechanism or by hand, if preferred.

It will be seen that these busks can be manufactured with great rapidity and with the utmost of economy, there being no loss whatever of any of the initially-provided metal except the insignificant waste due to forming the slots or apertures a. After the busks are completed they are then covered with suitable casing material, as at F, and secured to the fabric G of the corset. I

Fig. 2 illustrates the fact that the offset at b in the busk B insures that the hook parts 19 shall not project beyond the lines of the outer surface of the corset. The books I) normally lie in the planes of the part b of the busk'B, and, moreover, these hooks are inside of the side edges at b. The busk A, when the two busks are united, lies substantially in the plane of the part b of the busk B, opposite the shoulder 13*. In this respect the busk B differs from any that have been used or suggested, so far as I know, in the earlier ones the hooks being projections extending beyond and to points outside of the side edge of the husk, but, as stated, in my construction each hook lies entirely between the side edges b and b of the husk, and this enables me to provide a firm fastening of the two h-usks together, asit prevents the free hinging action incident to those which have the hooks projecting from one of the side edges, the parts at b which are between the hooks, lying behind or back of the husk A when the corset is in use and substantially in one plane from the edge I) to the shoulder 11 What I claim is 1. In a corset-fastening, the combination of the two busks, one having a continuous longitudinal shoulder, b and the parts of the husk at the opposite sides of the shoulder lying in difierent planes, and one of said parts having hooks integral therewith bent toward and opposing said shoulder, and the other husk having apertures-near its edge to receive said hooks, whereby it will lie with said edge against and lapping over the nearer part of the former husk, opposite said shoulder, and in substantially the same plane with the farther part of the other husk.

2; In a corset-fastening, the combination of the two busks, one having a continuous longitudinal shoulder 12 and the parts of the husk at the opposite sides of the shoulder lying in different planes, and one of said parts having hooks integral therewith formed within the edge of the husk bent toward and opposing said shoulder, and the other husk having'apertures near its edge to receive said hooks, whereby it will lie with said edge against and lapping over the nearer part of the former husk opposite said shoulder and in substantially the same plane with the farther part of the former husk, substantially as set forth.

3. A fastening device for a corset, consistingof a husk having a series of apertures, and an opposite husk having the portions b, b ofiset or in different planes forming the shoulder 19 the part b extending continuouslyin one plane from the edge to the shoulder the hooks b situated entirely between the side edges of the husk, and the portions 11 of the part Z) between the hooks lying in one plane from the edge I) to said shoulder b substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN H. \VOLCOTT.

Witnesses:

'E. S. BERTRAM,

R. M. ARMSTRONG. 

